Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is certainly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.